Infection Control Product Review: Kevin’s Covers PICC Line Protection

The following infection control review will discuss the product “Kevin’s Covers” and their claim that it helps patients feel more comfortable and maintain high patient safety. We do not distribute or have any financial ties to Kevin's Covers or Hampton House Medical.

To begin, we love how this product came about. It is as simple as a boy named Kevin needing protection for his PICC Line. His mother, Carolyn Hampton McCollum, made him a cover that allowed him to function more normally and also avoid being put back into the hospital. If after reading this product review you want more information, please see www.kevinscovers.com(or email hamptonhousemedical@gmail.com).

Even at first glance, it can be seen that these sleeves would help most patients that have an IV or other devices for an extended amount of time. They protect, but also look nice. Not only on first glance, but from my own personal past experiences of IV’s I wish I would have had the convenience and protection of a Kevin’s Cover.

After reading a stack of customer testimonials, we decided that we needed to formulate our own opinion of Kevin’s Covers and conduct a review. The following is a review from our Infection Preventionists’ standpoint. Even though there are three sleeves (The Original Sleeve Cover, The Shower Sleeve and The Independent Sleeve), we are going to review all of them in one general review. Of the three, we loved the Shower Sleeve the most because showering can be such a tricky task with an IV or other attached medical device.

Pros

The hoop and loop closure design works great

Easy adjustment of the covers

7 Sizes available (The size we had fit most of our people)

Prevent lines from catching (huge patient safety feature)

Keeps patient safe from unwanted removal of tubing or devices

Keeps patient from making multiple additional visits back to the hospital

Allows showering to be an enjoyable experience rather than having it become stressful

Waterproof (Shower Sleeve) Great feature!

Seals on the ends with neoprene wraps

Breathable

Keeps condensation from building

Condensation can cause many problems

Low price in comparison to other medical devices and wraps offered through hospitals

Cons

One more item to buy in a long list of medical bills

Can attract germs if not washed often

Limited designs

Not distributed as wide as expected (hence, not available in all areas)

We also decided to use some of our Glo Germ to test whether the cover (Shower sleeve) was waterproof. If addition, the Glo Germ (trialed with fluorescent powder and fluorescent lotion) was used to simulate germs and verify the germ protection the sleeve provided. In both tests the Kevin's Cover protected the area where an IV or other device would be placed. It helped reduce outside germs from collecting around the insertion point(s).

The OUTFOX Prevention Take

I have seen some interesting contraptions that people make from scratch to protect their PICC lines… now there is no need to build a cover out of bread sacks, grocery bags or whatever easy materials people have. Trust me, I have tried building my own and they aren’t pretty or work very effectively.

Besides the ability to cover and make the person feel more comfortable, we see a huge upside of Kevin’s Covers in terms of patient safety. The threat of snagging your line is real and happens more often than it should. This cover can help reduce this problem. We also see a reduction in germs around the protected area due the design of the cover. Reducing the germs helps fight off infection and worsen any further issues associated with the patient.

We think this is a great product and should be offered more often in healthcare facilities around the country. If you would like to distribute them or make them available to your patients then please contact us or Hampton House Medical, Inc. directly. Use the following contact info: